Hi All, Need a little advice as to where i stand and how to proceed. Myself and my partner moved into a new flat in July 2018 where the car park is managed by these clowns. We are one of about 10 who are fortunate enough to have a very big parking space where two cars can be parked back to back. We questioned this in the viewing and was told this was acceptable. The issues with countrywide parking started about a month after we moved in where we got a ticket on one of our cars for being parked incorrectly. This was appealed and of course, lost. It was then appealed to IAS and of course, lost. Since then we have taken the advice on here and i'm hoping that the letter received yesterday from BW legal titled Letter before claim is now the last from these cowboys The main issue i have is that since then, we have received multiple tickets on our vehicles (about 5 i believe) for the reason of "double parking". Thankfully, i have a copy of a letter from these cowboys that was sent to all residents before we moved in specifically highlighting that double parking was allowed in these spaces. This was thrown back at them during one of the appeals and yesterday we have received the appeal rejection saying that the block management have changed their mind, only single vehicles can now park in these spaces and that my appeal has been rejected on this matter (first i knew of this change of ruling). Firstly, where do i stand with appealing these and going forwards? One of the main reasons we moved in here was because it had the benefit of space to park two vehicles. There is no road parking around here that isn't charged so thats not really an option. I don't want to keep getting these PCNs. i know that CPM have never taken someone to court but i do not want to end up in a situation where they take us to court to make an example seeing as we will probably have a substantial amount of these by the time our lease is up! As expected, the appeal responses from them are pathetic, don't actually address the points i'm making and are going against their own signage and terms but i'm now starting to use a substantial amount of time dealing with these and whilst i'm taking great pleasure in wasting their time and money, id rather not have to!

I do most of my Council stuff online via their web portal, also most of my GP stuff via (use to be EMS) https://www.patientaccess.com and book my next hospital app via their online bookings system so bonza! PIP appeals https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-online-service-launched-for-pip-appeals Check area availability as it doesn't cover all areas atm MoJ is also trying and failing atm to launch a PIP appeal via video link service. I've been having a few barnys with NHS services over disability accessibility/adaptation well lack of it. So think this is a good thing? ESA appeals on line https://www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision/submit-appeal England and Wales only Upload your fit note https://www.gov.uk/send-fit-note I think one complaint for all is that is doesn't send you a copy of your submission but you should be copy n pasting to a word doc (or what ever you use) for your own records anyway. Imagine if the fully online Universal Credit service could do that? Well apparently it might do in 2020 (only 6/7/8 who knows years after launch) but you might at present be able to ask your work coach for a 'to do' whereby they can enable a one off upload function on your journal.

New independent appeals process to protect passengers issued with penalty fares READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-independent-appeals-process-to-protect-passengers-issued-with-penalty-fares

Sent my appeal off with some brief details of why i was appealing , Had a Letter from DWP confirming that they received my appeal, and about how much ESA i will get until it's heard, But so far over 1mth since requesting the full written statement of the Atos wca Form IB /ESA85, But so far i have not been sent it, The person that i recently spoke with from DWP ,Confirmed that they could see that i had previously requested it, but could not understand why i had not yet received it, What can be done to force them to supply this info,(assuming it actually exists) ?

Hello, I have a problem regarding PCNs and hope someone would be able to help! Received PCN regarding a driving contravention ( crossed a road the wrong way, but it was a quiet residential side street and i was lost!) dated 26th April sometime the week of 15th May. ( mail mix ups are common, it's a relatively new block of flats, mail from a similar sounding block beside us tends to end up with us at times) Appeal deadline would have been 26th May. I tried to appeal online, but the website wasn't working. I have screenshots from several browsers. I called in and spoke to staff who advised a written appeal although it would be close to the deadline, I also emailed them the same day with the gist of my conversation & email copy of appeal. (email appeals are not allowed though) . (all done before deadline) Written appeal received by council on 1st of June, in the mean time, charge certificate dated 26th May sent out informing me that cost now increases from £130 fine to £195. Letter from council dated 8/6/2017 received, informing me that the appeal window is closed hence I am no longer able to appeal. Wrote back saying I effectively did not receive the notice in a manner that gave me sufficient time to appeal. Even then, I had tried the website, called in to speak to staff and emailed before the deadline on 26th May. My written appeal was received 6 days after the deadline which I thought shouldn't be invalid given I didnt receive the PCN on the 26th of April! I asked them to please reconsider the matter, allow an appeal, consider it, and if rejected I should be allowed to pay the discounted £65 charge . To expedite matters I reattached my original appeal letter and a cheque for £65. I also asked the council to show me proof of postage that they did indeed send the letter on 26th of April. I also wrote that if they continue to reject my right to appeal, then to please advise me on the next step/ escalation to county court. The council wrote back thanking me for my payment of £65, advised that there is a remaining £130 left to be paid ( total £195), and that appeals are no longer possible/ not considered/window has passed. The council's letter states that if I don't pay the remaining sum, they'd apply to county court to recover the £130 plus court costs from me. That the letter is signed by a "Business Processing Officer" only makes me more annoyed. No proof of postage/ no response to the content of my actual letter. Just a generic "postal delays are beyond our control". Plot twist - even when I go to the website to pay the fine, it says the penalty has already been paid and payments are no longer accepted online. I'm guessing I'd have to write another cheque or pay via the phone. All in I've felt this is very unfair. I received the PCN late, I tried the appeals website which didn't work, I spoke to staff, I emailed. I've really engaged with the whole malarkey. Do I really need to pay and additional £130 or has this been unfair by the council ? Thank you in advance.

Hello, I've been over the HMRC guidance and related sites lots of times but still unsure. Apparently nowadays you can show 'exceptional and relevant' reasons for late Appeals (Mandatory Reconsiderations) - examples given are being in hospital or out of the country. The longer it goes on, the better the reason needs to be. What about when the person was around but they have chronic language/cultural barriers that led to a delay, combined with the fact that the HMRC Compliance Office phone was and is apparently set to permanently engaged (not sure if the notorious Concentrix). The person did send a letter a little past the 30 days deadline but the Compliance Office decided it didn't have quite the exact required wording to trigger a Mandatory Reconsideration, so they simply ignored it. There's then been several further months of inaction until now. Alternatively, 'Official Error' review can be requested for a long time afterwards. But can anyone explain what counts in laymans terms? In this case it would be the Compliance Office phone number never answering (acknowledged as a 'recurring issue' by an HMRC official); the stated reason for the original query appears invalid (their own website specifically says child benefit cannot be considered in deciding main responsibility - at least if there's a dispute which there wasn't here); a decision to remove a child without specific evidence (only lack of reply to a confirmation question - this strategy has been criticised in tribunals before); not contacting the other responsible parent (logically one had to be responsible if the other wasn't according to them). Thanks in advance for anything.

I've gone through the first level appeal for PIP at Tribunal (twice - the first tribunal was disallowed for legal reasons). On receiving the latest tribunal's refusal, I got home and immediately reapplied for PIP. I'm honestly beginning to have doubts as to whether it's worth it - I feel my one piece of supportive evidence has been turned against me. My long-term condition involves chronic heart failure and type-2 diabetes. I would maintain that my condition has not improved and in some areas has certainly got worse. The tribunal said that my condition was insufficient to qualify for either the daily-living or the mobility components of PIP. In the course of the tribunal, I admitted telling my doctor (of nearly 30 years) that I was unable to walk for long, before stopping to catch my breath. The interpretation of this was that I had put words into my doctor's mouth. I can't see how I can have led my doctor in the course of an everyday examination. When you see your doctor, it's reasonable and expected that you would tell him what's wrong, and he would then do what he could to heal you. My PIP medical was a year ago. Getting to this point has meant enduring a lot of stress and a large drop in income. My heart-rate has never slowed, meaning I have been even more exhausted than usual. I'm bowled over by the negative outcome.

Good evening. I am a newbie so be gentle with me please. Parked in a near empty pub car park in September with my 86 year old father in law to take him to the bank and for some lunch. The signs were very officious and said permission of the landlord of the public house. The pub is empty. We were gone maybe 40 mins on return found a parking ticket on the window and a large gentleman in a very small van with "parking control" on the side watching and grinning. I asked him why I had been given a ticket he said because I wasn't showing a valid permit. What and where do I get one of those? You cant it's parking for the Co-op (nextdoor). The other cars aren't displaying permits. Yes they are! Where? Here on the dash (pointing). Two out of seven had " permits" which were black "P"'s printed on a piece of paper - one had been written in black biro on an old envelope. Not happy! Appealed in a couple of days in writing to UKCPS heard nothing till the 20th of December when I was sent a final demand letter for £100 to be paid within fourteen days or court action will be taken. I called and spoke to a very aggressive rude lady who told me they had sent a letter turning down my appeal and I had not responded. I never received a letter. She said it was my fault I had not received it and that I should "pay up or else"! I finished the call. I then sent a letter to the only Director of UKCPS a Mr Deegan to his home address stating the way I had been treated and asked him to sort this mess out. I sent it by post to be signed for and traceable. The post office could not get a signature and left a card. Where now please?

my brother paid for 2 crossings at Dartford to go from darkest Essex to deepest Kent and paid online in advance. A week later he gets 2x£100 fines because he was not charged enough when he paid the amount demanded. Dartcharge dont employ humans so you cant reason with them about the ridiculousness of the charge so how do you appeal this?

I received a Penalty Notice from a small local authority, not a council however still a government based authority. I'm reluctant to name them at this stage. The ticket states a penalty payment of £50 is now due reduced to £20 if paid within 5 days. I have chosen to pay the £20 at this stage and fight the charge after without the risk of it being increased. Probably not what most of you would recommend but its not the money for me, its the principle. The ticket has not been filled in correctly. It just states the date, time, vehicle etc. The ticket has a tick box for a choice of several car parks and also for several reasons of issuing the ticket. None of these have been completed. The ticket also has no appeals process stated on the ticket, although the address and phone number are on the ticket. I had purchased a valid ticket which included my vehicle reg number so there is no doubt that a ticket had been purchased. The issue is the ticket was a lightweight paper till roll type ticket that must have blown off the dash as I closed the door, it was a windy day. I have read of appeals still going against people with a ticket not being displayed correctly hence my just paying the £20, however if the ticket has not been completed correctly or there if there is no appeals process then surely they must be in breach of the Traffic Management Act ? Would appreciate any comments. My intention is to hopefully recover the £20 and ensure they change their ways....

Received today; It seems that all outstanding London Councils POPLA appeals have been ' adjourned ' regardless of the appeal. My PE appeal was based on only one point- lack of standing. This has no connection with Beavis and as such I was expecting a decision... Five weeks after the hearing estimated date, I get the above email which has no relevance to my case. So who, when and if a decision is made is any ones guess....

I'm new here & sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong section. I lost an employment tribunal case and I was ordered to pay £35,000 for an organisation and a union, I'm an individual (employee) and I do not have legal representation. In addition, I do not have the ability to pay as I have been out of job for 1.5 years and I have no assets I wonder what should I do? I know that I can declare myself bankrupt but I want to avoid it if it is possible as it will have significant impact on my career. I have no previous experience or knowledge of what can I do and I would really appreciate your help.

Hi all Wondering if anybody has had any dealings with 'Private Parking Appeals Limited' I bumped into them via Parking Cowboys when intially researching my response to a PCN/NTK (as explained in my thread 'Owner/Driver left the site'). I 'knee jerked' somewhat and paid £18 to them to take the appeal process on as promised on their website and make the whole thing 'go away' That was on 22nd Aug. I've not had any response. Even after sending several emails inc via their website and a couple of phone calls to the message service. Are they legit?.... or more [problematic] on the make? Cheers

Having done some reading and useful links I came across this story and could help some motorists that have had a PCN issued by a CEO for having their ticket blown over and facing down for more info please read here http://metro.co.uk/2015/08/17/heres-how-to-get-your-parking-fine-cancelled-5346489/ Linked from Scoop.it and metro.co.uk

My husband has had an invoice from ParkingEye. I know we can appeal but at this moment, neither of us need the stress (we are dealing with a bereavement), so I wondered if it was worth using feepaying websites? I know we'll have to pay but I can't find out whether we will be throwing good money after bad. Does anyone have any experience of these two? Any advice would be gratefully received at this very difficult time. Thank you.

I have recently been kicked off ESA by Atos, scoring zero points with mental health issues, I recently seen citizens advice which done the mandatorily reconsideration for me, I should have scored about 30 odd points but none of the questions that citizens advice showed me were asked, the mandatorily reconsideration phoned me the other day asking me questions, I got so stressed I couldn't do it so put the phone down due to my condition, she then phoned a few days ago telling me I still score 0 points I explained I got stressed and couldn't speak but that didn't help so I lost my cool with her and swore, anyhow I got the letter through this morning saying they uphold the original decision, also on the letter says that the Atos medical examiner said I looked fit and well and was well tanned and muscular, it was the middle of August of course I would look tanned I think anyone did the summer we had, I was even crying in front of her due to not seeing my children and my father recently passing away, but she lied and made out I was alert I couldn't even keep eye contact with her, but she said I did, what are you supposed to do go in there with a rope around your neck is it, anyway I'm thinking of appealing what do you guys recommend? i seen my doctor on Monday he give me a sick note for 13 weeks as he agrees I am not fit to work at the moment and said he was not surprised with the decision as they are doing it to everyone. Thank you

Haas anyone been successful? What information did you give them that changed their decision?

I recently applied for and MBNA and Tesco credit card and was declined by both. They have told me that it was because of the defaults on my file and I have other credit cards that have been open for less than 6 months, that was 3 months ago. The defaults are due to come off next month and the credit card accounts are now older than 6 months. I am writing a letter of appeal, has anybody had any success in doing this?

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/20/people-stripped-benefits-charged-decision I remember writing a post the other day on one of the threads, and considered writing that the government could be even more obstructive and start charging for appeals - then I decided no, they wouldn't be stupid enough to even consider it, and I was wrong......

Just received a final rejection of my appeal against a parking fine from Vehicle Control Services. Attached to it was a form from POPLA. Does anyone have any experience of using this option?

Hi, I'm new to the forum, but have been reading a few posts on here and finally decided to see if anyone can help me with the issue I am facing right now. I attended my second ATOS medical last year after winning my last appeal, knowing that I'd done everything I could, I knew (like the time before) that the person assessing my illness had it in for me from the start of the interview. She hardly spoke to me, never looked at me and didn't pay attention to the fact that I was shaking within the interview. Needless to say, I appealed the decision like I did the last time and knew that it was going to be a long wait. Oh, this was just before Christmas as well. So I had no money whatsoever over the Christmas period and had to wait roughly six or so weeks to receive something after they had processed my appeal. Anyway onto my appeal, I waited and waited for a letter to arrive to tell me when my hearing was going to be, even phoning them a couple of times to ask if they had any idea of when I should hear something back. I was fobbed off continuously and told that it could take anything up to a year, I already knew this from before. So I waited for a letter to arrive, fast forward a couple of weeks or so since I phoned them to ask when my appeal was going to be and I receive three of the notorious brown envelopes in the post. I open them to find out that not only has my tribunal been heard without me knowing, they have stopped my benefits, which I rely on by being unwell. I hadn't received any letters from them regarding my tribunal, so I had absolutely NO idea when the tribunal was taking place. I did receive some help filling in some papers after my money was stopped before Christmas, so the people who helped me received copies of the letters for the tribunal, but I hadn't seen any of these letters that they had filed when I saw them yesterday to discuss why my benefits had been cancelled. The first time I saw said letters were when the worker pulled them from their file. I was shocked. Does anyone have any ideas on what I could do please? As you can understand, I am desperate right now, I have no money whatsoever and bills to pay through having hardly any funds for months. I've been in tears for most of the day.

New rules about appeal rights and making appeals against benefit decisions are due for widespread implementation from 28 October. Overview From 28 October 2013, new appeal rules and procedures that already apply to universal credit (UC) and personal independence payment (PIP) are due to be extended to benefits administered by the DWP. Housing benefit is not included – the appeal arrangements for that benefit will remain the same. It is understood that for benefits (child benefit and guardian’s allowance) and tax credits administered by HMRC, the new rules and procedures will be introduced from April 2014, although this is not yet confirmed. The changes are: a requirement to have had, on request, a revision of the benefit decision before the right of appeal arises: so-called ‘mandatory reconsideration’; where mandatory reconsideration applies, the appeal is to be made directly to HM Courts and Tribunals Service, and not to the decision maker: so-called ‘direct lodgement’; time limits for DWP responses to appeals sent to HM Courts and Tribunals Service – but not until October 2014. What is mandatory reconsideration? This clumsy term is the official name given to the requirement that before appeal rights arise a request for the decision to be revised must be made, and that the decision maker then accepts that request so as to consider a revision. If the revision is considered, the claimant is sent a decision on the result of that in a ‘mandatory reconsideration notice’. If the claimant is still unhappy, s/he may then appeal. For example, the revision decision may refuse to change the original decision, in which case the claimant may remain unhappy and so wish to appeal. The usual time limit for appeal applies, from the date the decision in the mandatory reconsideration notice was sent. Note that a revision is required: a supersession will not do. The overall effect is to end the right of direct appeal against an initial benefit decision. The DWP is clear that if the request for revision is late and is not accepted by the decision maker, there is no revision, and there will be no right of appeal. In effect, therefore, the mandatory reconsideration notice is the official recognition of a right of appeal. 1The actual rules that apply to UC and PIP do not read quite as clearly as that. They say that under mandatory reconsideration a claimant has the right of appeal ‘only if the Secretary of State has considered on an application whether to revise the decision...’ (emphasis added).2 The official line is that if there has been a request for a revision, but it is late and the request is not then accepted for consideration, then the decision maker will not have gone on to ‘consider whether to revise’ the decision. Consequently, there is no revision, no mandatory reconsideration notice and no right of appeal. The government has pointed out that it has eased the late revision rules by removing the requirement that the application has ‘merit’ and removing the provision that the fact that the claimant was ignorant of, or misunderstood, the law cannot be taken into account.3 Disputes about whether there has been a mandatory reconsideration will be decided by HM Courts and Tribunals Service, but in practice it will normally look for a mandatory reconsideration notice – ie, a revision decision. The requirement to have a revision (even if that does not actually change the original decision) means that revision grounds and time limits will become especially important in retaining appeal rights. Standard advice is to request a revision within one month of the sending of the decision wherever possible, to ensure a revision on ‘any grounds’ and guaranteeing that there will be a mandatory reconsideration. Otherwise, a request for a statement of reasons for the decision can slightly extend the time allowed for revision (if the DWP accepts that reasons were not already included in the decision, which is rare), a late request for an any grounds revision can be made, or a revision can be carried out ‘at any time’ on limited grounds (usually restricted to cases of official error). But all of those depend on the DWP accepting the request and going on to consider a revision – if not, then there is no right of appeal. Late requests for any time revisions are likely to be the most important route here. Rules currently differ slightly for UC and PIP (and contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) and contributory employment and support allowance (ESA) under the UC system) and other benefits, but in essence involve a 13-month time limit, a requirement to show why late revision is sought, why it is ‘reasonable’ to grant it and how ‘special circumstances’ meant it was not practicable to meet the one-month time limit.4 Official guidance says that this should be applied broadly, and the claimant should not be required to show ‘unexpected’ or ‘exceptional’ circumstances.5 When does mandatory reconsideration apply? Mandatory reconsideration has applied to UC and PIP since April. It is expected that mandatory reconsideration will apply to other DWP benefit decisions dated on or after 28 October 2013. That includes decisions about JSA and ESA. The original benefit decision should include a statement to the effect that there is a right of appeal only where the decision maker has considered on an application whether to revise the decision. (If there is no such statement, then mandatory reconsideration does not apply.) Also, the decision should include the one-month time limit for an ‘any grounds’ revision and of the possibility for requesting a statement of reasons where that is not already included. If mandatory revision applies but the claimant attempts to appeal straight away, that may be treated as a request for a revision.6 How is a mandatory reconsideration requested? There are no new arrangements for requesting a revision. It is simply a matter of requesting a revision (or at least asking that the decision is looked at again or be reconsidered) in the normal way, within the standard one-month time limit wherever possible. There is no official form. The request does not have to be in writing but it is better that it is, especially if the standard one-month time limit has not been complied with. The mandatory reconsideration process will involve a decision maker contacting the claimant by telephone before the revision is made, to ‘talk through’ the disputed decision and invite her/him to submit any additional evidence.7 Making an appeal Following the mandatory reconsideration, the appeal must be lodged directly with HM Courts and Tribunals Service and not, as before, with the decision maker.8 This is called ‘direct lodgement’. HM Courts Service has produced a new appeal form (Form SSCS1 – How to appeal against a decision made by the Department from Work and Pensions) and guidance about the process. Its use is not mandatory but is recommended (in any case certain basic requirements including reasons for the appeal remain mandatory). It is understood that if the current appeal form (GL24) is inadvertently used where mandatory reconsideration applies, that will not in itself invalidate the appeal. In England and Wales, ‘direct lodgement’ appeals should be sent to HMCTS SSCS Appeals Centre, PO Box 1203, BRADFORD BD1 9WP. In Scotland, they should be sent to HMCTS SSCS Appeals Centre, PO Box 27080, GLASGOW G2 9HQ. The standard time limit for the appeal is that it must be received at HM Courts and Tribunals Service within one month after the date on which the claimant was sent the result of the mandatory reconsideration – ie, the revision decision in the mandatory reconsideration notice.9 Late appeals remain possible – ie, the tribunal can waive the one-month rule. The tribunal rules require that a copy of the mandatory reconsideration notice is included with the claimant’s notice of appeal.10 It is understood that to facilitate that, claimants will be sent two copies of the mandatory reconsideration notice. However, it should also be noted that the tribunal has the power to waive the requirement to include a copy (as with any other requirement under the tribunal rules)11 – so that a claimant who identifies her/his revision decision well enough might have her/his appeal accepted even without a copy of the mandatory reconsideration notice. If a claimant attempts to lodge an appeal with HM Courts and Tribunals Service without having had a mandatory reconsideration, the appeal will be returned with advice that it is not valid and that a mandatory reconsideration from the DWP should be sought.12 Time limits The DWP has undertaken ‘to introduce time limits to stipulate how long [it] has to respond to an individual appeal’ from October 2014.13 It says that will mean that the DWP will have 28 days to provide an appeal ‘response’ (ie, a set of appeal papers) to be sent to HM Courts and Tribunals Service. Note that there is no intention to introduce any time limit for carrying out a mandatory reconsideration. Note also that at time of writing the relevant rule is unamended (including for UC and PIP), and merely requires the decision maker to provide a response ‘as soon as reasonably practicable’.14 Personal Remarks The DWP denies that mandatory reconsideration involves an extra step in the appeals process or that it constitutes an important change in appeal rights.15 Very arguably, it is both. If revisions are (as the DWP says) carried out anyway it is difficult to see what extra value in terms of dispute resolution there is in requiring one. Someone who wishes to dispute a decision more than a month after the original decision is currently (apart from in UC and PIP cases) able to request a late appeal, even if a late revision is refused. Under mandatory reconsideration s/he cannot. If her/his request for a late or an ‘any time’ revision is refused, then (on the official approach) s/he will not have the right of appeal at all. Judicial review is the only legal redress. Furthermore, claimants will be without the benefit claimed pending the outcome of their request for a mandatory reconsideration. In ESA cases (currently the majority of appeals), it remains that ESA pending appeal is only payable when an appeal has been made – ie, not while a mandatory reconsideration is pending. The very real concern is that many claimants will abandon their dispute because of the simple need to sustain themselves and their families. 1. See, for example, ‘Detailed Lines to Take for Customer Representative Groups’, and Advice for Decision Makers, A3015 and A5043, 2. Reg 7(2) The Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2013 No.381 (the ‘UC, PIP etc D&A Regs’) 3. DWP, Mandatory consideration of revision before appeal, Government response to public consultation, September 2012 (DWP), p16. At time of writing, only the UC, PIP etc DA Regs late revision rule was in this form. 4. Reg 6 UC, PIP etc (D&A) Regs; reg 3 Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 1999 No.991. It is assumed that reg 3 of the latter regulations will be aligned with regulation 6 of the UC, PIP etc (D&A) Regs, in particular to remove the requirement that the late application has ‘merit’ and that the claimant’s ignorance of or misunderstanding of the law cannot be taken into account. 5. Advice for Decision Makers, A3016 6. Reg 7 UC, PIP etc D&A Regs 7. DWP, Appeals Reform: an introduction, April 2013, 8. Rule 22 The Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Social Entitlement Chamber) Rules 2008 No.2685 (the ‘Tribunal Rules’) 9. Rule 22(2)(d)(i) Tribunal Rules 10. Rule 22(4)(a)(i) Tribunal Rules 11. Rule 7 Tribunal Rules 12. ‘Detailed Lines to Take for Customer Representative Groups’ at 13. DWP, Appeals Reform: an introduction, April 2013, 14. Rule 24(1)(b) Tribunal Rules 15. ‘Appeals Process Changes – Customer Representative Group Questions and Answers’ , V1.0a, DWP, December 2012,

GPs charge disabled up to £130 to appeal fitness-to-work decisions Doctors are charging sick and disabled people up to £130 for medical evidence to appeal decisions about their fitness to work, The Independent has learnt. NHS GPs are telling patients they will only provide the necessary details to challenge controversial Work Capability Assessments if they pay. Others are refusing to help at all. Citizens Advice say in many areas GPs are helping with an appeal only if patients pay a fee of between £25 and £130. There are also reports from 15 of its centres that family surgeries are refusing to provide evidence at all. GPs who refuse to help – or charge increasingly high fees – argue that writing up medical evidence takes up time when they could be helping patients. But Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “Charging sick and disabled people more than £100 for medical evidence beggars belief. This process is clearly failing.” A lack of evidence from doctors will make it more difficult for people to navigate what experts say is an already “flawed” system. The Work Capability Assessment, which is currently conducted by the private company Atos Healthcare for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), has already been beset by criticism. More than 600,000 of the 1.8 million assessments carried out by Atos since 2009 have been the subject of an appeal, at a cost of £60m. Around a third of the appeals succeeded. After an investigation by the DWP, which found that two in five of Atos’s written reports were not fit for purpose, the company will no longer have a monopoly to carry out the assessments. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/gps-charge-disabled-up-to-130-to-appeal-fitnesstowork-decisions-8785041.html

My wife was unknowingly placed in a work support group over a year ago. We have always believed that this decision was wrong. Her ESA stopped in March as she had received it for 365 days.We appealed but the appeal was struck off because it was late. We applied for ESA again 12 weeks later due to a deteriorating condition but the decision was, that although she had limited capability for work she did not have limited capability for work related activity. We appealed this but have since received a letter saying the decision stands and we will be notified when the tribunal appeal will be heard. On the letter it states that she was seen by a health care professional on 07/05/2013. This is not the case she has been seen by no one. She filled in a medical questionnaire and was told no further assessment was necessary. She scored 15 points but DWP contend that she did not meet the criteria of any of the descriptors. We disagree with this. Someone from jobcentre+ phoned her last week, even though I have made it quite clear that she is unable to cope with this and for this reason I am representing her. This person stated my wife's response to her questions but failed to mention in the letter that she had reduced my wife to tears She has seen a consultant and been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome on top of her existing condition Depression/Anxiety and the consultant stated that any type of work is out of the question. The decision has been made on the word of a registered nurse( who looked at her medical questionnaire) over the word of a specialist. We were not given time to gather evidence from the consultant and my wife's GP but we wrote them a letter explaining what the consultant recommended but they have disregarded it. I will have all this evidence when I go to the tribunal. As she struggles to walk 50 metres without suffering pain and discomfort I believes she meets the criteria of that descriptor and she has difficulty relating to others without causing her significant distress( she was distraught when she received that phone call) therefor we believe she meets that one as well. he letter states Advice" I advise that the person meets the criteria for having limited capability for work". Prognosis "I advise that work is unlikely within 2 years" " The available evidence suggests improvement is unlikely in the long term" I don't know what to expect at the appeal so any help would be really appreciated. I don't know if I want to put my wife through the ordeal of attending the appeal or if I should go on my own.

Before i was on Employment and Support Allowance, i was claiming Job-Seekers Allowance Like most people, i received a Sanction, i appealed as the sanction was in contravention of my disability. Four months down the line i have now received a letter from the DWP saying they have rejected my appeal and passed my appeal up to the appeals and tribunals service. What happens now, and to pass my details to the independent appeals service should have been my choice, why has the DWP done this without my consent, even though i am not going to object to them passing my details onto the appeals and tribunals service. Why was i not given the choice???